Ask HN: What fiction books would you recommend for programmers?

8 points - yesterday at 11:33 PM


What are some fiction books that you think programmers especially would enjoy?

Doesn't have to be but I'm interested as well if there are any that are written by programmers or engineers

Comments

code_Whisperer today at 3:33 PM
"Galatea 2.2" by (my all-time favorite author) Richard Powers

"Off to Be the Wizard" by Scott Meyer

"Daemon" by Daniel Suarez

"The Adolescence of P1" (vintage) by Thomas Ryan

"Snow Crash" by William Gibson

"Ready Player One" by Ernest Cline

"We are Legion [We are Bob]" by Dennis Taylor

LarryMade2 today at 4:09 AM
These are all entertaining:

Definitely the Wizardry series by Rick Cook

https://www.fantasticfiction.com/c/rick-cook/wizardry/

Programming meets magical realms

James Hogan

Inherit the Stars - Has supercomputers but not main characters

Code of the Lifemaker Has Ancient Tech evolving into a robotic society

Two Faces of Tomorrow - humans trying to get along with AI

D.F.Jones

Colossus, the Fall of Colossus, and Colossus and the Crab

Humans creating machines to protect humanity (computers have different idea) and the rebellion, and a new threat.

A Logic Names Joe - radioplay of short story.

https://archive.org/details/OTRR_X_Minus_One_Singles/XMinusO...

The internet and AI long before the internet and AI.

David Gerrold - When H.A.R.L.I.E. was One - and other tales involving Artificial Super Intelligence

William Gibson - Neuromancer and related - Cyberpunk series, the Difference Engine - a Steampunk technology tale.

argo_navis today at 11:39 AM
Laundry Files Series by Charles Stross Written by a ex-programmer, features a world where magic is a branch of mathematics, so you can for example write an app to summon demons, or accidentally turn yourself into a vampire by implementing a particularly extravagant algorithm.

https://www.goodreads.com/series/50764-laundry-files

netcoyote today at 1:14 AM
The Vorkosigan Series, by Louise McMasters Bujold. She’s won six (!!!) Hugo awards for her writing, and as Anne McCaffery says, “Boy, can she write”.

Space opera with warfare, intrigue, politics, drama, and world building.

delichon today at 10:38 AM
"Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus" by Mary Shelley. The themes in this book are more relevant now than at any time since publication in 1818, and to nobody more than ML coders.
vismit2000 today at 9:21 AM
'Stories of your Life and Others' and 'Exhalation' - by Ted Chiang. In his short stories, he introduces advanced concepts from mathematics, philosophy, and computer science in a way that’s subtly woven into captivating narratives.
GrumpyYoungMan today at 1:06 AM
Terry Pratchett's Going Postal seems particularly apropos these days as we have Reacher Gilts aplenty in tech news headlines.

Obscure and a bit dated but Bruce Betkhe's Head Crash is hilarious if you've been deeply immersed in the software industry.

austin-cheney today at 10:31 AM
Eon by Greg Bear.

A Deepness in the Sky by Vernor Vinge.

bediger4000 today at 12:14 AM
Cryptonomicon and Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson
bigyabai yesterday at 11:44 PM
Library of Babel, Borges
dtagames today at 12:00 AM
Three Body Problem by Cixin Liu, himself a programmer.